Summary

Elena goes on a tour of Italian cities to promote her book. She speaks with ease at various places and begins to enjoy the flow of teaching. Several students ask about why she wrote a section in her novel that can be considered risqué. Elena talks of the necessity to recount every human experience, so matter how secretive. This becomes a common refrain in her speeches around Italy. Tarratano, Adele’s friend, is sent to accompany her to an event in Turin. He implores her to stop apologizing for her risqué passages and points out that they would be beneath notice if written by a man. They discuss it over dinner, and in the elevator he tries to kiss her.

In Chapter 14, Elena travels to Milan, where her publisher tells her she should be planning a new novel. He sends her to the...